UN calls on Poland and Belarus to resolve humanitarian crisis at border News
music4life / Pixabay
UN calls on Poland and Belarus to resolve humanitarian crisis at border

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a statement Tuesday that described deteriorating conditions for migrants on the Poland-Belarus border, while also urging both countries to prioritize humanitarian aid and ensure the proper enactment of international asylum law.

Poland and Belarus have been locked in a border dispute since earlier this fall when Poland accused Belarus of deliberately funding and encouraging Middle Eastern migrants to cross their shared border to destabilize the European Union. While the number of new migrants has subsided in recent weeks, many still remain trapped on the border between the countries.

The OHCHR report details interviews conducted with migrants in early December. Many migrants reported abusive treatment from Belarusian authorities prior to arriving at the border, as well as automatic returns from Poland to Belarus even when the individuals requested asylum. Such automatic returns are a violation of the international principle of non-refoulement, which requires countries to honor requests for asylum with a good faith review process.

According to the OHCHR, those who were accepted into Poland were denied proper physical and mental health care, had limited conduct with the o0utside world, and were detained for indefinite periods of time. The office called on Poland to revise its immigration legislation and end these detention policies for migrants, arguing that the country violates EU laws.

Belarus has been repeatedly criticized by the international community for its policies towards migrants, with the EU saying it is “instrumentaliz[ing] . . .  migrants for political purposes” and creating a “hybrid attack” against the EU.

THIS DAY @ LAW

US Supreme Court ruled Indians not US citizens

On November 3, 1884, the US Supreme Court ruled in Elk v. Wilkins that John Elk, an American Indian who had tried to vote in a federal election in Omaha, Nebraska, was not a US citizen entitled to the protection of the 14th and 15th Amendments of the US Constitution. Native Americans became eligible for citizenship in 1887 under the Dawes Act, but only in 1924, under the Indian Citizenship Act, were all Native Americans born in the US made citizens.

Last public execution at Tyburn Gallows in London

On November 3, 1783, the last public execution took place at Tyburn Gallows in London, when John Austin was hanged for highway robbery. From the hanging of William Fitz Osburn in 1196 until Austin's execution, Tyburn served as London's primary location for public executions.

Learn more about the trial of John Austin.